The right thing, at the right time

From the vagueness of what I last left you with to something specific. It's hard to quantify what I've learned in the military, and even harder to explain it to people who have never been in the military.  I've run into lots of people who thought they could fake it...  but when it comes down to it, you just can't compare.

My brother-in-law lit himself on fire.  It wasn't intentional.  Someone was cleaning at his job with pure alcohol and he lit a blowtorch and up he went.  He works in the oil business, but I couldn't tell you what he did.  But the training he went through as a firefighter stopped him from serious injury. 

Now...  what if you could hire people that do things instinctively...   without thinking...  and it's the right thing?  You'd probably make a pretty penny or two.  And that's what's good about military people.  They do the right things in a pinch.  Because that's what they've been trained to do.  The right thing.  Without thinking.  Every time. 

When the incorrect response results in death, then you lean the correct response quickly.  I knew one fat fuck during my 2nd tour in Iraq.  His name was pronounced Gregwar.  Except that it wasn't Greg War.  It was Greg waour.  Or something like that.  It didn't sound like a badass in the middle of a war.  It sounded like a chain smoking fat man with French heritage and a gut that said he was 9 months pregnant.  And that guy got shipped off to war.  He was shipped home early. 

If Gregwar had been just incompetent, I could have worked with that.  But he was a lying sack of shit.  And lying is something I just can't stand.  If you are stupid, I can deal with that.  Ignorant?  That's workable.  Untrainable?  I can deal with that as well.  But a liar?  That's hard.  Actually, it's not.  I just didn't have the authority or ability at that time. 

The point of mentioning Gregwar is to show what happens if you retain incompetence.  But what about the person that does the right thing, at the right time, every time, without being prompted?  Firefighter training saved my brother-in-law.  Because he did the right thing.  At the right time.  Without being prompted.  And it saved his life.